Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: A subset of the diverse organisms used in the studies of biochemical adaptation presented in this special issue. From left to right: the Antarctic notothenioid fish Pagothenia borchgrevinki; the California mussel Mytilus californianus; the longfin inshore squid Doryteuthis pealeii; the porcelain crab Petrolisthes manimaculus; and the longjaw mudsucker Gillichthys mirabilis. These species inhabit a wide range of habitats, including McMurdo Sound in Antarctica (bottom left) and the central California rocky intertidal zone (bottom right), in which they maintain common biochemical abilities. The 3D structure in the middle is isocitrate dehydrogenase. Photo credits: Adam Paganini, George Somero, Brent Lockwood, Roger Halon, Stephen Sharnoff and Tzong-Horng Yang.
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SPECIAL ISSUE: Biochemical adaptation: conservation and innovation in the face of environmental change
EDITORIALS
REVIEWS
Adaptations of protein structure and function to temperature: there is more than one way to ‘skin a cat’
Summary: Studies over the past 40 years have shown that one to a few amino acid substitutions are sufficient to alter enzyme function in temperature-adaptive ways, but that these substitutions can occur in a variety of locations throughout the protein.
The emerging role of RNA editing in plasticity
Summary: RNA editing can be used by organisms to regulate their physiological response to the environment. Recent studies show that it is used more frequently than previously suspected.
The environmentally tuned transcriptomes of Mytilus mussels
Summary: Abiotic factors, such as temperature and the tidal cycle, drive patterns of gene expression in Mytilus mussels that underlie whole-organism physiological states, which, in turn, influence biogeographic distributions.
Antarctic notothenioid fish: what are the future consequences of ‘losses’ and ‘gains’ acquired during long-term evolution at cold and stable temperatures?
Summary: Antarctic notothenioid fishes have undergone biochemical losses and gains during long-term adaptation to cold; the processes underlying thermal tolerance and acclimation capacity of these cold-specialized animals are examined in the context of climate change.
Animal ice-binding (antifreeze) proteins and glycolipids: an overview with emphasis on physiological function
Summary: Ice-binding proteins and glycolipids evolved independently multiple times to assist subzero temperature survival in diverse organisms, both freeze-tolerant and freeze-avoiding. Their physiological functions in animals are reviewed.
The effects of temperature on aerobic metabolism: towards a mechanistic understanding of the responses of ectotherms to a changing environment
Summary: A view of why current theories provide an inadequate mechanistic account of the effects of temperature on aerobic metabolic processes across levels of organization from individual proteins to intact animals.
Proteomic responses to environmentally induced oxidative stress
Summary: This review covers the ROS-producing and -scavenging reactions of mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and peroxisome and compares these to the actual proteomic responses of marine organisms to environmentally induced oxidative stress.
Co-evolution of proteins and solutions: protein adaptation versus cytoprotective micromolecules and their roles in marine organisms
Summary: Biochemical adaptation to environmental stressors involves not only evolution of changes in macromolecular structures, but also selection for protective cellular micromolecules such as osmolytes and piezolytes in the deep sea.
Physiological strategies during animal diapause: lessons from brine shrimp and annual killifish
Summary: The apparent convergent evolution of diapause in brine shrimp and annual killifish has occurred at the physiological level, via unique molecular mechanisms. This review underscores the central importance of physiological, rather than molecular, responses to environmental stress.
Physiological mechanisms used by fish to cope with salinity stress
Summary: Some fishes have evolved high salinity stress tolerance (euryhalinity), favoring adaptive radiation in a climate of rapidly changing and fluctuating salinity. The mechanisms underlying euryhalinity of fishes are outlined.
Transcriptomic responses to environmental temperature in eurythermal and stenothermal fishes
Summary: Comparative transcriptomics is rapidly accelerating our understanding of how fish respond to thermal stress; this review summarizes and synthesizes gene expression patterns from stenothermal and eurythermal species responding to acute and long-term exposure to temperature.
Considerations for the use of transcriptomics in identifying the ‘genes that matter’ for environmental adaptation
Summary: The ability of transcriptomics to identify genes that underlie environmental adaptation is explored in the context of recent systems-level experiments that provide new insights into the relationship between gene expression and fitness.
Evolution of urea transporters in vertebrates: adaptation to urea's multiple roles and metabolic sources
Summary: The UT family experienced a dynamic evolutionary trajectory in vertebrates, and we propose that this phylogeny is intricately linked to the diverse physiological functions of urea and to the multiple ureogenic pathways in vertebrates.
Biochemical adaptation to ocean acidification
Summary: Physiological adaptation to ocean acidification has been widely studied using comparative and experimental approaches, yet the biochemical bases for adaptation is not well characterized.
Thermal variation, thermal extremes and the physiological performance of individuals
Summary: We review how temporal, spatial and physiological variation have potentially synergistic effects on the thermal performance of individuals and conclude that several challenges must be overcome to fully incorporate small-scale variation into predictions of climate change.
Giving microbes their due – animal life in a microbially dominant world
Summary: Recent nucleic acid sequencing data provide compelling evidence that animals live in a microbial world and that microbes have shaped animal biology, including their biochemistry and physiology, over evolutionary time.
Harnessing physiological research for smarter environmental policy

In their Perspective, Alexia Dubuc and colleagues discuss strategies to strengthen collaboration, communication and engagement between physiological researchers and environmental policy makers to ensure that conservation strategies address the threats posed by climate change.
JEB grants to support junior faculty

Learn about the grants that we launched in 2023 to support junior faculty from two of our awardees: Erin Leonard, Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Visiting Fellowship recipient, and Pauline Fleischmann, Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grant recipient. The next deadline to apply is 28 November 2025.
Early testing could make risky falls a thing of the past for elderly people

Falls cost healthcare systems billions each year, but there may be a solution. Jiaen Wu and colleagues of Stanford University, USA, suggest that measuring the way someone walks before they get old might let doctors know who is at risk for a potentially life-threatening fall in the future.
Ecosystem engineers on tropical reefs in transition

Giant barrel sponges (GSBs) remain robust to rising seawater temperatures and have rapidly populated reefs stripped of coral cover by climate change. GBSs may be poised to become the dominant habitat-forming organisms in tropical reef ecosystems of the future. In this Review, Joseph Pawlik provides an integrative and critical assessment of research on giant barrel sponges.
Fast & Fair peer review

Our sister journal Biology Open has recently launched the next phase of their Fast & Fair peer review initiative: offering high-quality peer review within 7 working days. To learn more about BiO’s progress and future plans, read the Editorial by Daniel Gorelick, or visit the Fast & Fair peer review page.